Various cleaning articles have been created for dusting and light cleaning. For example, cloth rags and paper towels used dry or wetted with polishing and cleaning compositions have been used on relatively flat surfaces such as countertops, showers, sinks and floors. Laminiferous wipes have been proposed, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,296,176. But, rags, wipes, and paper towels are problematic for reasons such as hygiene (the user's hands may touch chemicals, dirt or the surface during cleaning), reach (it may be difficult to insert the user's hand with the rag, wipe or paper towel into hard-to-reach places) and inconvenience (cleaning between closely-spaced articles typically requires moving the articles).
To overcome the problems associated with using rags and paper towels, various reusable dust gathering devices using felt and hair have been utilized for more than a century, as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 823,725 issued in 1906 to Hayden and using yarns as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,787. To address the problems with reusable dust gathering devices, disposable cleaning articles have been developed which have limited re-usability. These disposable cleaning articles may include brush portions made of synthetic fiber bundles, called tow fibers, attached to a sheet as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,813,801; 7,003,856; 7,566,671; 7,779,502; 7,937,797; 8,146,197; 8,151,402; 8,161,594, 8,186,001; 8,245,349; 8,528,151; 8,756,746 and 8,763,197.
Disposable dusters having tow fibers may provide for wet cleaning as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,566,671 and in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,803,726 and commonly assigned US 2008/0028560. But tow fibers may become matted when wet and not be suitable for cleaning a large or heavily wetted surface, such as a floor. Thus, dusters may not suitable for cleaning extremely large or heavily soiled surfaces. Instead, sheets having fibers have been proposed, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,752,232; 8,793,832 and in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 8,075,977. Webs with elastic behavior have been proposed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,035. Sheets with recesses have also been proposed, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,245,413; and 7,386,907. Sheets with cavities have been proposed, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,092. An adhesive cleaning sheet is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,291,359.
To overcome the problem of large and/or heavily wetted surfaces, mops which are repeatedly dunked into a bucket of liquid have been used. But these mops become saturated and can redeposit large amounts of dirty liquid onto the floor. Accordingly, disposable floor sheets have been developed. These floor sheets may contain large amounts of absorbent cellulose, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,191,486 and 7,721,381, and may include at least two interior sheets as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,032,577. Floor sheets may contain AGM to further assist in liquid absorption and retention, as disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,960,508; 6,003,191; 6,048,123; 6,601,261 and 6,766,552. But if insoluble soils are not removed from the floor, or if soluble soils are inadequately absorbed by the floor sheet, streaking and/or filming may occur.
One attempt to clean overcome this problem is found in microfiber cleaning pads. Microfiber pads may be nylon and are intended to be washed and reused. But microfiber pads may damage the floor and still leave filming/streaking, particularly after repeated washings.
This problem is exacerbated by some of the newer floor materials. For example, certain new flooring materials are relatively dark in color. And newer flooring materials may have relatively high gloss levels, and/or be difficult to wet during cleaning, due to surface energy. These properties may highlight filming/streaking which is left on the floor after wet cleaning, even if damage to the floor does not occur.
Yet other attempts to make cleaning pads incorporate both hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,694,379 and commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,480,956. Another attempt includes free floating cuffs, as disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,028,364. Other relevant attempts in the art include US 2003/0300991; 2011/0041274; 2016/0037993; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,245,413; 6,681,434; 6,701,567; 7,458,128; 7,624,468; 8,341,797; 8,707,505 and 8,863,347.
While these attempts are directed to absorption of liquids from a wetted target surface, particularly from a floor, problems remain. A generally flat floor sheet presents the same surface to the floor throughout the cleaning task. Dirt can be re-deposited if the floor sheet is saturated. A generally flat floor sheet may not adequately clean into floor crevices or grout lines. Damage to the floor may occur if a reusable microfiber floor pad is used.
Thus, there is a need for a disposable, generally planar cleaning article, usable on wetted surface and which presents dynamically changing surface throughout the cleaning task. A generally planar pad can be removably disposed on the head of a cleaning implement, such as a Swiffer® implement, sold by the instant assignee. The head of such an implement is also generally planar and typically mounted to a handle through a universal joint. This arrangement allows the user to apply compressive pressure where extra cleaning is needed. The use of a removable, generally planar sheet on such an implement is desirable as providing both cleaning capability and protecting the surface, through the combination of strip mobility under compression applied through the handle.